March on Frankfort Anniversary

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	Kentucky Commission on Human Rights
	40th Anniversary of the Historic 1964 March on Frankfort

Press Release Date:	February 11, 2004
Contact:	Victoria Dempsey, Information Officer, 502.595.4024 or 1.800.292.5566

Forty years ago on March 5, 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., baseball legend Jackie Robinson and Kentucky civil rights leaders led 10,000 people to rally at the Kentucky state capitol in a peaceful demonstration, calling for a “good public accommodations bill” to prohibit segregation and discrimination in stores, restaurants, theaters and businesses. Under consideration by the General Assembly, the bill did not make it out of committee during the session that ended just a few weeks afterward, but the march helped lead to the passage of The Kentucky Civil Rights Act in 1966, making discrimination in the Commonwealth illegal. (A copy of the souvenir program of the 1964 march is attached to this press release.) The Kentucky Commission on Human Rights (KCHR) invites the public to help commemorate the historic Civil Rights March on Frankfort by attending a special event on Wednesday, March 3. It will begin with a memorial walk up Capitol Avenue at 9:30 a.m. to the Kentucky State Capitol steps. Participants are asked to start assembling at 9 a.m. at the intersection of Capitol Avenue and Fourth Street. A ceremony will follow the short five-block procession, either in the capitol rotunda or, if there is a beyond-capacity crowd, on the capitol steps. Senator Georgia Davis Powers, an organizer of the original march, and others will speak. Participants must show identification at the security post in order to enter the capitol. If members of the public or their family members participated in the 1964 walk, KCHR urges them to participate and to contact the commission in advance so their history can be shared at the event. We ask that people R.S.V.P. by calling Cynthia Fox at 502.595.4024 or 1.800.292.5566, so KCHR can help the Frankfort Police Department plan logistics and traffic control. Frankfort Parks and Recreation will provide free parking and bus transportation from Juniper Hill Park and Golf Course, located on the west side of Frankfort, about one-half mile from the capitol, at 800 Louisville (US 60) Road. Buses will return participants to Juniper Hill after the event. Buses will begin riding people from the park to the start point of the walk at Capitol and Fourth at 8:30 and continue until everyone is transported.